DCS Ava Turner of the Edinburgh Major Investigation Team is working on the case of a missing young man who turns out to be kidnapped.
Meanwhile DCI Luc Callanach is back in his native country of France, working with Interpol and his old partner Jean-Paul in an illegal organ transplant investigation.
When the cases turn out to be linked, Luc and Ava must collaborate to find the sinister killers involved in human trafficking and organ harvesting.
This compelling story has graphic violence and brutality.
A fast paced police procedural with lots of action and really great characters. There is strong chemistry between Luc and Ava that keeps a dynamic tension in their relationship.
Though the sixth of the series it can be easily read as a stand alone. But believe me, you'll want to go back and read from the beginning!
Thank you to Avon Books UK for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

Remarkably, this is the my first book in this series, which I have intended to begin reading for eons, but have now made inroads with it. I had absolutely no problems diving in at book six, though I imagine, in common with many series, it is recommended to read the instalments in chronological order to gain the full reading experience.

In Perfect Kill by Helen Sarah Fields, I was introduced to the star of the show, DI Luc Callanach. Bart Campbell has been drugged and kidnapped, then locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. He knows that his chances of being found alive are slim, but he is unaware that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate investigations that soon converge as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland. With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no room for failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

With a captivating opening scenario, I was engrossed and addicted within the first few pages. Perfect Kill has plenty of violence, gore and action to keep the staunchest of crime readers entertained and has an abundance of subject matters ensure the content is compelling and original. This is a very gritty thriller with graphic themes of sex trafficking that would not suit those who prefer their crime cosy.

I liked the equilibrium between the professional and personal lives of Ava and Luc and their relationship, which came across as pretty complex, along with a checkered history. With its fascinating characters, fabulous plots, and interesting settings, I read Perfect Kill in its entirety in one sitting. Helen Fields' writing is first-class and the satisfying and fulfilling conclusion left me eager for the 7th instalment. Perfect Kill was a five star read for me, and without a doubt I will be looking out for a copy of Perfect Remains, the first book in this superbly written police procedural series.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Avon Books via NetGalley at my request, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is the 6th in the series and I had read non of the prior books but that did not take away from my enjoy,ent of the book. I like both police characters Ava and Luc. Though I was not a fan of the direction of their connection with the trite everyone knows they both love each other but it is not meant to be storyline,

Howver, they are working on parallel cases which were both compelling and horrifying. Some of the violence against women maybe triggering. I also found myself trying to convince myself such things could not really happen. It I suspecT they can and do.

Engaging and enjoyable. I was given a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I haven't read previous books in the series but soon got into the story. It was a very dark storyline and I must admit people trafficking is not my favourite subject. The story moved rapidly forwards with some good characters. Lots of tension and fear.

You know you’ve read a good book when you open your kindle and get disappointed when you remember that you finished it! The DI callanach series is one of my favourites so I was delighted to get this via @netgalley. I love the characters in this series and after some cliffhangers in the last book it was great to see how these story lines develop. Perfect Kill is pretty dark but it’s one of those books you just need to keep reading to find out what’s happening! Thanks Helen fields - this series just keeps getting better!

Goodness gracious me. Where do I even begin?

In Perfect Kill, the reader gets a double dose of depravity as DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach work separate cases. Ava and her team are up in Scotland, while Luc has joined up with a former colleague at Interpol in France. Soon these cases will collide, with lives at stake on both sides of the Channel.

Few people manage to come up with the most evil and disturbing characters quite the way Helen Fields does. Characters that get under your skin, characters that make you want to take a really long shower, characters that have you glaring at the pages of the book, wishing you could hurt them somehow. They are truly vile and utterly despicable.

The reading experience is elevated by putting the reader right there, in the middle with the potential victims. We meet Bart, who wakes up one morning and realises he isn’t in his cosy bed at his mother’s home. Instead he finds himself chained in a dark and windowless place, location unknown. And then there’s Elenuta from Romania, who came to Scotland with the promise of a better life. Need I say more?

Some of these chapters are immensely uncomfortable to read. I winced, I felt sad and angry, I feared for these characters’ lives. These chapters are upsetting, powerful, raw and brutal. I often needed a moment to recover from the horror and brutality, the absolutely horrendous ways some people treat other people for sheer pleasure and entertainment, for money, and all the while it unfortunately all felt so incredibly realistic and believable. It’s sadly easy to imagine that these things do actually happen and these thoughts will linger on your mind long after you’ve finished the book.

So, not exactly for the faint-hearted, I suppose, but that’s something I’ve become used to from Helen Fields. Perfect Kill has many themes that haunt modern society, which lift this book to a whole other level in the crime fiction genre. The “Perfect” series has always been able to stand out from the crowd but this latest addition is really something else altogether. Gritty and raw, I perversely loved every minute of it. I’m not entirely sure what that says about me.

Due to lack of time, I often need to make the tough decision to drop a series because I can no longer keep up but I feel quite confident that this series right here will never be one of them. It is just that good and all that’s left for me to say is : bring on book seven!

Thank you Avon Books and Netgalley for a copy of Perfect Kill by Helen Fields for an honest review.

Perfect Kill is book 6 in a series I absolutely love! The characters are really focused on in this one and this is probably the first one you couldn’t read as a stand-alone. I loved how after 6 books, I could mostly guess how the characters would react but Helen Fields is still shocking me with the crimes she chooses for these characters to investigate. For a police procedural series, the mystery is always so interesting and complex.

No secret at this point that I am obsessed with this series and hope to be raving about it for years to come!

European thriller pursuing criminals in Scotland and France - murder, kidnap, prostitution and killing women for sport.
This is a high octane chase from one crisis to another - which certainly keeps the reader hooked, then throw into the mix a love story between two of the main protagonists Ava and Luc - both high ranking police officers.
Characters are well written and some really gritty scenes which depicted cruelty and evil in the extreme.
I enjoyed this book however I really didn’t get the science/ medicine behind the body parts - this was unrealistic and not a great business model - as none of the recipients would survive the treatment - why bother with all of the kidnappings, etc when this could never work.
Ending was a little contrived .

Finished Reading Add a date (Kindle Edition)
Review I have not read the previous books in this series. That has made little difference. This has been a great read which has gripped my attention and kept me interested from the start.
The author pulled me in quite quickly and I struggled to put this one down. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Perfect Kill is the sixth book in the Luc Callanach & Ava Turner series, set mostly in Edinburgh.
I had only read the previous one, and while there is obviously significant backstory of the relationship between the leads, I think these can be safely read as standalones. I found the first half to be horribly sick and twisted, and considered putting it aside, but my review is overdue so I pushed on and enjoyed the second half - where the baddies mostly get what’s coming to them - much more.

The body of a young Scottish man has been found in Paris, stripped of all his organs. DCI Ava Turner sends Luc to work the case with Interpol, but then another similar man goes missing. Meanwhile women from Eastern Europe are being trafficked to work in the sex trade, and worse, and local ne’er-do-wells are turning up dead. How do all the cases connect and how can Ava and Luc save the victims from a hideous fate when they can barely speak to each other?

Some of the scenarios described here are truly depraved - one sequence in particular for me crossed the line into gratuitous violence that wasn’t necessary for the plot, and the reveal of what exactly is happening to the kidnap victims was stomach-churning in the extreme. This is however balanced by some very entertaining banter amongst the police colleagues, and sympathetic characters that I really hoped would survive. By the end I was racing through the pages to find out how it would all turn out, and I was happy with the ending.

I think I will want to continue this series, and may even go back and read the first four books, but am going to need some lighter reads for a while!
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc which allowed me to give an honest review, and apologies that it’s late. Perfect Kill is available now.

I want to start off by saying thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book, it was a very good read easy to follow along with storyline and characters. This was a new author for me but I very much enjoyed it, thank you for the opportunity and I look forward to reading more by this author again. I highly recommend this book to everybody.

Perfect Kill by Helen Fields is the 6th in the Detective Luc Callanach series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Avon Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
DI Luc Callanach is half French and half Scottish, living most of his life in France, and working for Interpol. A false rape allegation made by co-worker Astrid Borde, had him leave France, his job, his friends, his mother. He headed to Edinburgh to take command of a homicide team.  He has adjusted to the change, making friends with a colleague, newly appointed DCI Ava Taylor, and finds an unlikely friend in a journalist.  He may never be close with DS Lively. Other team members are DS Max Tripp, DC Janet Monroe and DI Pax Graham.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Luc has been in France for three months, as Scottish liaison officer to Interpol, tracking human traffickers.

Ava has her hands full in Scotland as bodies start to pile up, and a second young man has been reported missing.

It soon becomes evident that these young men may be headed to France, and young women from France are being sent to Scotland as sex slaves.  So why are healthy young men being abducted, and are the two cases that Luc and Ava are working actually related?

Meanwhile, Ava's long-time friend Natasha is having some issues.




My Opinions:

I absolutely love this series.  I truly recommend you read these in order, where you will get a good background of the relationships.  Helen Fields is not afraid to provide vivid details of crimes, so as always, be warned that you will read some gruesome stuff.  She also isn't afraid to show compassion, even in the most unlikely of circumstances.  Again, this book dealt with a rather tough subject, but it was handled quite well.

The writing is excellent, and the plot, twists and all, kept me turning those pages.

I truly recommend you read these in order, where you will get a good background of the relationships.  I like the characters, even the on again/off again romance between Luc and Ava.  Everything feels real, because most of them are flawed, insecure, and yet determined individuals.  I found myself liking DS Lively in this book, which was quite the surprise for me!

How have I never heard of this author before? I’ve clearly been living under a rock of some kind. Consider me better informed now. I had a great time reading this book, exactly the kind of thriller with mystery elements that I enjoy best. On a side note, I loved the cover. I was caught up in the story from the intense opening which immediately filled my head with a load of questions, some which weren’t answered for most of the book. Sheer genius! The book appears to be about events, equally sinister that are gradually revealed to be linked in many gruesome and creepy ways. This made my flesh crawl all right. Another author to add to my quite massive must read list.

I’ve seen lots of positive feedback for author Helen Fields’ D.I. Callanach series each named with ‘Perfect’ in its title but unfortunately I haven’t got around to reading any despite owning a couple. After securing an early copy of the highly anticipated sixth in the series - “Perfect Kill” - I jumped at the opportunity to see what all my fellow reviewers were talking about.
Starting exactly how I like stories in this genre to begin with - adrenaline fuelled intrigue and a captivating scenario, I was engrossed and addicted within the first few pages and knew this would be a series I would be going back to follow from the first book. You don’t need to worry about reading any of the first instalments as there plenty of background information to keep you in the loop about the characters, without overwhelming you in facts. Of course having now read this highly entertaining book I would recommend reading from the start purely for enjoyment. “Perfect Kill” has plenty of violence, gore and action to keep the hardiest of readers entertained (myself included) and has numerous subject matters to make the content compelling and original. I liked how the personal and professional areas were well balanced and I truly loved the relationship between Ava and Luc. I could go on and on but suffice to say, this was a five star read for me (I pity the next book I read after this) and without a doubt I will be digging out my copy of “Perfect Remains”, the first book in this superbly written police procedural series and I will be reading it very soon.

5 fantastically earned stars

Another great book in the DI Luc Callanach series. Bart, a young man from Edinburgh is drugged and kidnapped and finds himself being transported to France in a shipping container, not knowing where he is going or why. Meanwhile girls from Eastern Europe are being taken to Scotland to be held as sex slaves. DCI Ava Turner focuses on the investigation in Britain while Callanach returns to France. Gritty and disturbing this horrific story shows the very worst in human nature but also has moments of compassion and kindness. As events escalate to extremely dangerous levels that threaten the lives of all innocent parties, risks have to be taken to try to save those in desperate situations. I like the characters in this series, with their feistiness, banter and loyalty that all blend to make the reader want to invest in them. I look forward to the next in this well written series.

An absolutely gripping read with a knockout emotional ending that will pull at your heartstrings. Love this series! Will also read anything Helen Fields writes, she never lets you down.

This is the second book I have read by Helen Fields in the Turner/Callanach series (there are 6 so far in total) and like the previous one I read, it did not disappoint.

Luc Callanach is in France working with Interpol on a human trafficking case when he is called to assist the Franch Police when the body of a Scottish national is found, it appears that from the wounds to the body a lot of organs had been harvested.

Back in Edinburgh Ava starts to investigate the case of a missing person, whilst also looking into a shooting in a seedy run down part of town.

This is a real page turner, great story line, with some real heart in your mouth moments, not for the faint hearted, and can be quite graphic at times but was a thoroughly excellent read.

My one disappointment, I don't believe for one minute a senior police officer, particularly a woman, would risk her career to sleep with an officer on her team, especially whilst supposedly lusting after another officer!!.

My thanks to the author, Avon Books UK and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review

My thanks to Avon Books U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘A Perfect Kill’ by Helen Fields in exchange for an honest review. It was published on 6 February. I combined reading my eARC with its audiobook edition, narrated by Robin Laing.

This is the sixth in Helen Field’s series of police procedurals featuring DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach. While it was clear the main and supporting characters had history, enough background was provided so I didn’t feel lost.

Bart Campbell wakes up in a dark, confined space. Realising that he has been drugged and abducted, it slowly dawns that he is in a shipping container. What he doesn’t know is that he is being transported from his Edinburgh home to France and that his fate has been already sealed.

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are currently working on separate cases. He had been in France on temporary assignment with Interpol when the mutilated body of a missing Scottish national was discovered. Back in Edinburgh there is an ongoing trafficking case and then Bart Campbell’s mother reports him missing. Yet it soon becomes clear that their cases are related.

This was a very dark, gritty crime thriller and there were some scenes that were admittedly difficult for me to read given the nature of the cases under investigation. Yet it was excellent, so well plotted and very hard to put down.

Although this is my first experience of Field’s writing, I was very impressed and I now plan to read the series from the beginning.

EXCERPT: He froze. Something had hold of his left ankle. He breathed hard, twice, three times, tried to get to grips with his fear, then he lost it.

'Get off me!' he yelled, wrenching his foot upwards, trying to scrabble away. He hit a wall with his head shortly before his foot locked solid and his hip popped from its socket. The scream he let out was loud enough to wake the entire terrace where he lived. He rolled right, instinct kicking in, and the displaced hip shifted again back into the socket, easing the dreadful pain and allowing him to lean forward to take hold of whatever had his foot.

He didn't want to extend his hand. There was something about reaching his fingers out into the black void that seemed to be inviting a bite. Like slipping your hand into a murky river in the sort of place where, when animals attacked, the general reaction to the news was: 'What the hell did the idiot tourist expect?'

What Bart found was both less and more terrifying. His ankle was bound by a leather strap. There was no bogeyman occupying the darkness with him. Not one that had hold of his leg anyway. The strap was thick and sturdy, with a chunky metal link sewn through it. At the end of that, he realised miserably, was a chain. What was at the end of the chain, Bart wasn't sure he was ready to discover yet.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.

Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

MY THOUGHTS: This is the first book in this series, which I have long had marked down to read, that I have read, and I had absolutely no trouble with needing a backstory to fill things in. So if, like me, you haven't previously read any of the series, don't let it put you off picking up Perfect Kill by Helen Sarah Fields. You won't regret it.

This is a delightfully twisty plot that is, in places quite horrific and gruesome.... just what I love. The descriptions are graphic, vivid and leave little to the imagination. The squalor in which the captives are held, the cruel and inhumane treatment by those holding them are all described with a stark realism.

The characters are perfectly portrayed - there is no over the top exaggeration. They all fit and contribute to a breathtakingly horrific tale of human trafficking.

The two main characters, D.I. Luc Callanach and DCI Ava Turner are well matched. Ava is prickly and extremely hard on herself. She is also decisive and thinks on her feet. Luc is kind and thoughtful, with a quick wit and a genuine liking for people. There has obviously been a relationship between these two in the past that has left them wary of one another, but still able to work as a team.

There is a good mix of personal and professional life, with neither one outweighing the other, and which blend seamlessly with each other.

I am impressed by Perfect Kill. I am, this year, making a concerted effort to read complete series of books I have enjoyed. The DI Callanach series is joining the list. I already have Perfect Remains.

😊😊😊😊

#PerfectKill #NetGalley

A few of short passages from Perfect Kill by Helen Sarah Fields that I would like to share with you:

'I'm so glad we've always been friends. Mainly because as an enemy you're terrifying.'

'Do the letters DC in front of your name stand for Doesn't Concentrate?'

'You cremated dinner. It was a cruel and unusual act performed on innocent protein and carbohydrates.'

'Most human beings move forward only by realising what they don't want, rather than by experiencing a sudden revelation about what they are actually looking for.'

THE AUTHOR: Helen Fields originally studied law. After that, she worked as a barrister for over a decade. She is currently a successful author and also runs her media company with her spouse.

Fields first became a writer in print with the release of her first novel, Perfect Remains. It came out in early 2017 and quickly climbed through the ranks to become a best seller on Amazon. It is a crime mystery novel and the first in a series featuring a Scottish detective.

Helen Fields resides with her husband David in Hampshire. They have children together and two dogs. She has a deep love of licorice in addition to writing books and reading them.

She has also self published some of her fantasy books as part of her journey. Helen decided that she wanted to go even further and now has a literary representative.

Helen Fields is the creator and the author of the D.I. Callanach series. This engaging murder mystery meets crime fiction kicked off with the release of the first book, titled Perfect Remains. The novel came out in 2017 and was nominated for a McIlvanney Prize.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Avon Books UK via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Perfect Kill by Helen Sarah Fields for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage

Yet again a Perfect Read - this series never disappoints. Ava and Luc are on opposite sides of the Channel for much of this episode but their relationship still makes an interesting backdrop for this double story. This thriller is even darker than the darkest of her previous books - it is certainly not for the faint-hearted. It is thoroughly gripping and hard hitting. A brilliant read!
Many thanks to Netgalley/Helen Fields/Avon Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.